Six Tips for Proofreading Your Work

Last week we looked at how tiny lapses in proofreading can do nasty things to a brand. Just in case this is a problem of not knowing how to proofread, as opposed to a problem of not caring about it, I offer my tips to get your stuff proofed before people like me are bored enough at a conference to check the spelling on the signage.

In general, if you can get someone else to do it, that’s better. First, you can do much more interesting things like pick the new golf shirts for the swag cupboard and second, you can make them sing the I-Am-Very-Very-Sorry Song if they miss something. Here are some other people who can do it for you:

1. The Legal Department
   I know, I know, they suck all the joy out of marketing but you probably have to get them to sign off anyway and they’re pretty good at proofreading. This has backfired on me the odd time and I’ve had documents returned with snarky, pedantic comments that include something like “please resubmit when the errors have been corrected”. Next stop…
2. Somebody Clueless
   Not somebody generally in need of a clue, but somebody with little to no knowledge about whatever it is you’ve written. People who don’t understand or care about the content will focus on the words instead of arguing with you about your copy. Spouses can be helpfully clueless. Bosses and coworkers tend to have opinions. If that’s the case…
3. Hire someone
   It’s desperate, I agree but there are people out there whose job it is to read your lousy copy and fix it up. They’re called editors and they can be found online. Some of them will even turn your job around in an hour. A good editor will make you sound like you know what you’re doing; a mediocre one will at least catch your spelling errors.

What do you do when legal is still mad at you about infringing that Disney copyright and your clueless friends have got something better to do and you’ve no budget for a professional? You have to do it yourself. Here are three really easy tips for checking your own work:

1. Use the Tools Bill and Steve Gave You
   Did you turn off the spelling and grammar checkers on your applications? Was that a good idea? No, it wasn’t a good idea. Yes, they’re annoying; yes, they yell at you about things that aren’t really mistakes; and yes, they offer scary alternatives to what you’ve written, but quite honestly, they’ll catch things like independant and seperate. Most of the time, they’ll correct them as you type and you won’t even know that you can’t spell them. They will also help you with verb and subject agreements and terrible punctuation. Bill and Steve, however, leave it up to you to know which principle is the right principal and whether or not you are discreet or discrete. If you are only now figuring out that you ought to know the differences here, call #3 above for some help before #1 makes you the butt of a joke at some lawyer lunch.
2. Use Your Outside Voice
   When you’re all out of Steve and Bill, it’s time to actually read the work. One word at a time, paying attention to how you’re going about saying things and trying not to bask in your own brilliance. Personally, I find reading it out loud will drive out missing words or strange substitutions by Bill and Steve. Another benefit of reading your stuff out loud is almost always getting a seat on the bus and having the ladies room to yourself. Wherever you choose to do it, make sure you read slowly, almost as if you were reading it to your kids or someone in HR.
3. Think Backwards
   Still having trouble? Trying to check something  that doesn’t read out loud very well? Try reading it backwards. In your head, if you please. Go from bottom to top and look at every word. Taken individually, you’re more likely to see things that are misspelled.

Guess who shouldn’t proofread your work? Your vendors. This includes your agencies, your printers, your trinket makers, your producers of stuff. Their job, when they send you a proof, is to get your signature. That’s it. The good ones might raise a concern about something, but most of them just want you to sign off so they can move things to production and send you the bill. Just so we’re clear, your vendors also shouldn’t proofread their own work. If your blender has better grammar skills than your printer, and you sign off on the work, it’s still your problem.

If any of you have other tips for not undermining your brand with terrible writing, let me know.

Bizmarketer is Elizabeth Williams
Follow me on Twitter @bizmkter
or email escwilliams@gmail.com